ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9601020077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
VIRGINIA WINS the Peach Bowl in exciting - and typical - fashion, 34-27 over Georgia.
Win or lose, it was the only way Virginia's football season could have ended.
In what may go down as the most memorable in a series of fantastic finishes, the Cavaliers scored with 57 seconds remaining Saturday night to defeat Georgia 34-27 in the Peach Bowl.
Pete Allen, a 5-foot-10, 148-pound senior, ensured his place in UVa football history when he returned a kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown after Georgia had tied the score with 1:09 remaining.
Allen, who also caught an 82-yard touchdown pass, burst through the middle of the Georgia coverage team and switched into an extra gear as he passed Bulldogs kicker Kanon Parkman at the Georgia 40-yard line.
Parkman and another Georgia defender appeared to have an angle on Allen, who kept his balance only inches off the sideline and tightroped his way into the end zone.
A Virginia celebration cost the Cavaliers a 15-yard penalty - just as a similar celebration had cost the Bulldogs - but Georgia ran out of timeouts and could advance no farther than the UVa 45-yard line as the game ended.
``We put ourselves in a hole and special teams killed us all night,'' said Ray Goff, coaching his last game at Georgia after being fired in November. ``The [celebration penalty] cost us the game.''
The seven-point margin was the biggest in a Peach Bowl since 1983. The past 12 Peach Bowls, dating to UVa's 27-24 victory over Purdue in 1984, all had been decided by fewer than six points.
It was the sixth Virginia game decided in the final minute, but only three of those were won by 18th-ranked UVa, which capped a 9-4 season.
The Cavaliers lost to Michigan and Texas on the final play of the game, lost to Virginia Tech in the final minute, and beat N.C. State and Florida State before Saturday night's victory.
``I want to say from the bottom of my heart, I'm proud of our football team,'' said George Welsh, Virginia's coach. ``This team really overcame a lot of adversity.''
It marked the first time in school history the UVa football team has won as many as nine games in back-to-back seasons and gave the Cavaliers consecutive bowl victories for the first time.
Georgia finished the season 6-6, but delighted its many fans in a Peach Bowl-record crowd of 70,825 with its comeback. The Bulldogs trailed 27-17 to start the fourth quarter.
It appeared Virginia had held off Georgia until Cavaliers tight end Walt Derey fumbled a pass at the UVa 15-yard line and Georgia's Jason Ferguson returned it 10 yards for a touchdown.
The Bulldogs elected to kick the extra point and go for the tie as the public-address announcer explained the overtime format the NCAA adopted for bowl games this season.
Unranked Georgia dominated the statistics, outgaining the Cavaliers 525-256. Incredibly, the Bulldogs had 41 more offensive plays than Virginia, 95-54.
Georgia quarterback Hines Ward completed 31 of 59 passes for 413 yards, but he probably will remember back-to-back incompletions that forced the Bulldogs to give the ball back to UVa with 2:08 remaining.
Virginia quarterback Mike Groh finished 10-of-20 for 156 yards, and All-ACC tailback Tiki Barber had 20 carries for 103 yards. Barber was named most valuable offensive player for the Cavaliers.
Georgia trailed 24-6 in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs had the momentum going into halftime after Ward nosed 1 yard for a touchdown, then hit Brice Hunter for a two-point conversion pass with 19 seconds remaining.
Virginia had dominated the scoring - if not the line of scrimmage - by taking advantage of big plays, including a Peach Bowl-record 82-yard touchdown pass from Groh to Allen with 2:34 left in the half.
It was one of only four first downs in the first half for the Cavaliers, who intercepted passes by Ward on the Bulldogs' first two possessions and extended their streak of games with at least one interception to 29.
UVa linebacker Skeet Jones stepped in front of a Ward pass on Georgia's third offensive play and his 27-yard return to the Georgia 7 set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Barber with 10:37 left in the first quarter.
A Percy Ellsworth interception on Georgia's sixth offensive play went for naught when a Groh pass was intercepted two plays later, but the Cavaliers' special teams refused to let the Bulldogs take advantage.
UVa went on top 14-0 when James Farrior blocked a Dax Langley punt and walk-on Joshua Nowocin recovered at the Bulldogs' 14. Kevin Brooks scored three plays later on a 5-yard run.
After Parkman kicked field goals of 36 and 37 yards for Georgia, Barber had a 55-yard punt return for Virginia that put the Cavaliers in position for a 36-yard Rafael Garcia field goal.
The Bulldogs outgained Virginia 243-161 in the first half, at least partly because they ran 42 plays to the Cavaliers' 26. Ward was 11-of-21 for 200 yards in the first half, including 3-of-3 for 75 yards on the last drive before intermission.
UVa got a big lift from All-ACC punter Will Brice, who fielded a horrible snap on the Cavaliers' first possession and got off a 42-yarder with three Bulldogs in his face.
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 99 linesby CNB